Includes the background, nature, and scope of the profession, including its history,
philosophy, and social and behavioral science underpinnings.

7.01 Students graduating from the program shall demonstrate knowledge of the scope
of the profession, professional practice, and the historical, scientific, and philosophical
foundations of the relevant recreation, park resources, leisure experiences, or human
service industries.

Provision of Services and Experiences for the public, guests, visitors, and clients:

Provision of services and experience opportunities for guests, visitors, participants,
clients, or other constituent groups. The provision of service and experience opportunities
includes, but is not limited to recreation programming and leadership, heritage and
environmental interpretation, site design and management, experience design, and related
processes.

7.02 Students graduating from the Program shall demonstrate the ability to design,
implement, and evaluate recreation, park resources, leisure, and human service offerings
facilitating targeted human experiences and that embrace personal and cultural dimensions
of diversity.

Management/Administration

This dimension refers to both operations management/administration and strategic management/administration.
Operations management/administration includes planning, organizing, staffing, directing,
leading, controlling, reporting, finance, resource acquisition, marketing, and critical
thinking. Strategic management/administration refers to processes that managers in
parks, recreation, tourism and related professions use to optimize the success of
the organization within the external systems in which their organization operates.
Strategic management/administration involves creating, maintaining, and deploying
plans-of-action that address changing circumstances in social, economic, environmental,
or financial environments; new technology; and new competitors.

7.03 Students graduating from the Program shall be able to demonstrate entry-level knowledge about management/administration of recreation, park resources, and leisure
services.

Internship/Field Experience

7.04 Students graduating from the program shall demonstrate, through a comprehensive internship of not less than 400 clock hours, the ability to use diverse, structured
ways of thinking to solve problems related to different facets of professional practice,
engage in advocacy, and stimulate innovation.

Important Information Regarding Degree Mills and the Value of Accreditation

Please watch this important YouTube Video degree and accreditation mills. According to the Council for Accreditation for Higher
Education (CHEA), "Degree mills and accreditation mills mislead and harm. In the United
States, degrees and certificates from mills may not be acknowledged by other institutions
when students seek to transfer or go to graduate school. Employers may not acknowledge
degrees and certificates from degree mills when providing tuition assistance for continuing
education. “Accreditation” from an accreditation mill can mislead students and the
public about the quality of an institution. In the presence of degree mills and accreditation
mills, students may spend a good deal of money and receive neither an education nor
a useable credential." Read more on CHEA's website.

CHEA defines accreditation as "the primary means of assuring and improving the quality
of higher education institutions and programs in the United States. Active for the
past 100 years, this private, voluntary system of self-examination and peer review
has been central to the creation of a U.S. higher education enterprise that is outstanding
in many respects." Read more about the Value of Accreditation.